Too Trusting and Scammed Because of It

[Turgon]

I'm absolutely sick to my stomach right now at the realization that I just gave away $780 to online rental scammers from Denmark. A 'too good to be true' deal came up with a gentleman from Denmark. We exchanged multiple emails and correspondences where he supposedly 'shared' his situation with me, claiming to be a small business owner who had to move to Europe to further success his business that was failing here in Canada. He kept the Condo Apartment and wanted someone trustworthy and reliable to stay there and in exchange for mailing the keys to me so I could look at the apartment he wanted a deposit for the first month's rent IN CASE I wasn't a serious renter and caused unnecessary expenses and wasting his time.

A very clever mind ploy and twist!

He opened up quite quickly with me about his wife who had a speech pathology and 3 year old daughter, really trying to humanize himself in my eyes and what led to me letting my guard down and not listening to those small signs that were bothering me.

I just got off the phone with a friend of the family who heard about this situation and he has come across this type of manipulation and fraud so many times over that it's a classic case. I forwarded him the emails to read and his remark was 'Turgon, your just too trusting.' I gave my cell phone number, my parents number, my address but thankfully no banking or any other information - and the key's are supposed to arrive tomorrow - which is never going to happen.

It's incredible how in that moment, when totally overtaken by emotion and the wanting to find this ideal place and location, I was completely blind to the obvious signs of something fishy going on and gut instinct telling me to be wary. Here's what another poster has written on craigslist who succumbed to the same scam

- $900 / 2br - MODERN 2BR furnished Kihei, HI (Kihei )
This is a scam that I was taken advantaged by on Zillow. They asy that they are protecting themselves by making you pay $900.00 deposite for a fully furnished apartment in central Kihei. Furnished in a modern style. Totally bogus. They use Linco-Freight Logistics A/S in Denmark as their holding company. and the representative there person acts as a front to steal your deposit. They ask you for more money and when you want a refund they hide behind their distance & the Danish Government who refuse to act on fraud committed by their own citizens. Particularly Allan Roberts the representative Linco Freight Logistics who ripped me off. Please don't let these people scam you the way they did me.

Do any of the Danish members know of any way around this? I have the names, or apparent names of the Linco representative, Barnet Jones, and the name of the supposed property owner, David Walmer. I've kept all the emails with both the company and person. I talked to the police and they can take a statement and forward it to the Danes but said 'kiss the money goodbye' as an investigation is unlikely for such a small amount.

In response to this violation, and allowing myself to be scammed and taken advantage of, the family friend suggested this site _http://www.419eater.com/html/baiting.htm which is essentially 'messing' with these same scammers, wasting their time, making them run around in circles, not in the hopes of getting my money back, but payback and make them earn that money they stole, Don Juan style!

So what is scambaiting? Well, put simply, you enter into a dialogue with scammers, simply to waste their time and resources. Whilst you are doing this, you will be helping to keep the scammers away from real potential victims and screwing around with the minds of deserving thieves.

It doesn't matter if you are new to this sport or a hardened veteran; if you are wasting the time of a scammer, or frustrating them in any way well that's good enough for us, and we would welcome you to join with our now very large community.

Because I've found the same Craigslist ad and am considering creating some false email accounts to reply to it and just totally mess with them for a few weeks, because that's the amount of money's worth they've taken from me. From what I understand, after tomorrow when the keys are supposed to arrive but most likely wont, they are going to attempt to extract more money from me coming up with reasons why there is a delay, custom's border, etc. They probably still consider me a gullible renter. But I just find this theme being played out where not being vigilant and mindful to inconsistencies in situations and people, even thinking emotionally or letting emotions guide my behaviour and decisions doesn't work. I trusted too quickly and got burned because of it because I wasn't skeptical, weary or questioning enough and this was a real life example of how pathological people can use our emotions against us.

An important lesson for the future...

 

[KristinLynne]

I'm so sorry Turgon and unfortunately craigslist is full of those types. When I rented my house to a family of 5 from craigslist, they stayed long enough to clean it out, stopped paying the rent all together by the 4th month and did a midnight move on Mother's Day weekend. It is so frustrating and makes it harder to connect to real people who are genuinely honest and looking to rent.

 

[paralleloscope]

That sucks, maybe - if the keys don't arrive and it really is a scam.

Do any of the Danish members know of any way around this? I have the names, or apparent names of the Linco representative, Barnet Jones, and the name of the supposed property owner, David Walmer.

I'm not really knowledgeable about such matters, but I can check it out. There's apparently no Barnet Jones at Linco, judging by their site, perhaps I should give them a call?

I don't know about spending a few weeks on payback, that would seem like putting more energy into a hole. Don Juan would perhaps approve if there was some included way of transmuting self importance. Payback on it's own may just be a way to take away the sting of feeling gullible and stupid.

Once in Cabo Verde I gave my last cash to a street person, for him to buy airfare from a special dealer in the slum where it was to dangerous for me to follow along with him, just had to wait in the cab..until it dawned on me how stupid the whole setup had been and had to eat it. Only in hindsight were all the red flags visible. Just because we've had a few beers and chatted about semi personal stuff the day before, trust flooded the picture, or rather a burning desire for the apparent last tickets left on the island, leaving a gaping hole in the defense. The red flags were discarded, which would have been obvious if I'd been awake to what was going on in the machine and the fact of what kind of world we live in.

 

[fabric]

Oh man dude, I'm so sorry to hear that!! I've seen something like that before where the people tell them they need a deposit before sending them the keys and then nothing happens after that. How did you send the money to them? Was it a check or direct deposit? How long ago did you send the money to them? Maybe you could try contacting your bank and letting them know you were a victim of fraud or if it's a check you could do a stop payment?

 

[angelburst29]

Hi Turgon, depending on how the money was transfered, you might be able to "stop payment" or have the transfer tracked to location but if it was cash, it's gone.

As for the Police stating that there was a slim chance for an investigation, it doesn't stop you from making copies of the emails and adding a short summary, etc., submitting it to the Police in person and requesting an investigator place it "on File" if unable to investigate at the present time. If they get enough public complaints, chances are - they'll start pulling files.

As for messing with them (scambaiting), You may want to think about that for a moment.

At present, you're the victim. Depending how you play your hand in this convoluted mess, you might find yourself - being set up as an accessory - to take the fall for one of their other scams? Remember, they have your name and address, phone number. Which, under the circumstances, might led to a possible
"break-in & home evasion!" It's bad enough finding out your a victim, don't add insult to injury, by messing with them and digging yourself in deeper.

 

[angelburst29]

Just another thought, the name's they gave you, Barnet Jones & David Walmer could be something they pulled out of the air or name's of other victim's who had been scammed in the past?

 

[Turgon]

I'm not really knowledgeable about such matters, but I can check it out. There's apparently no Barnet Jones at Linco, judging by their site, perhaps I should give them a call?

That would be much appreciated! I suspect Linco is a convenient company that they used as a set-up because the real Linco's email ends with @linco.dk whereas the email's I received ended with @representative.com but I could be wrong. At the very least they should know that their company is being used as a front as long as some of their employees aren't involved in some way. Although that would lead back to them if that were the case.

Once in Cabo Verde I gave my last cash to a street person, for him to buy airfare from a special dealer in the slum where it was to dangerous for me to follow along with him, just had to wait in the cab..until it dawned on me how stupid the whole setup had been and had to eat it. Only in hindsight were all the red flags visible. Just because we've had a few beers and chatted about semi personal stuff the day before, trust flooded the picture, or rather a burning desire for the apparent last tickets left on the island, leaving a gaping hole in the defense. The red flags were discarded, which would have been obvious if I'd been awake to what was going on in the machine and the fact of what kind of world we live in.

I had that same reaction, as soon as I realized I had been scammed it was if the entire scenario, every point where I was hesitant or weary, every little inconsistency in this whole set up just appeared right in front of me. I saw how my emotions took over at a certain point where trust that wasn't earned was initiated and I felt for this person as someone whom I could rent from and that's where all critical thinking went out the window. They are very good and have a lot of practice manipulating peoples emotions for their own advantage.

I don't know about spending a few weeks on payback, that would seem like putting more energy into a hole. Don Juan would perhaps approve if there was some included way of transmuting self importance. Payback on it's own may just be a way to take away the sting of feeling gullible and stupid.

As for the Police stating that there was a slim chance for an investigation, it doesn't stop you from making copies of the emails and adding a short summary, etc., submitting it to the Police in person and requesting an investigator place it "on File" if unable to investigate at the present time. If they get enough public complaints, chances are - they'll start pulling files.

As for messing with them (scambaiting), You may want to think about that for a moment.

At present, you're the victim. Depending how you play your hand in this convoluted mess, you might find yourself - being set up as an accessory - to take the fall for one of their other scams? Remember, they have your name and address, phone number. Which, under the circumstances, might led to a possible
"break-in & home evasion!" It's bad enough finding out your a victim, don't add insult to injury, by messing with them and digging yourself in deeper.

I don't feel a particular sting from it other then the initial sickness from realization but have been trying to understand what the situation now calls for. Maybe simply just putting out there to the police that my name, address and information have been taken and could be used and giving these names out to the police is what's being asked of me, even though Danish police investigation into this will be negligible.

Maybe you could try contacting your bank and letting them know you were a victim of fraud or if it's a check you could do a stop payment?

It was done through Western Union, as per the recommendation from 'Linco' rep Barnet Jones. I checked, WU released the money yesterday, so there's no getting it back at this point. I used a debit transaction so my only hope in releasing this information to the police is that they can at least narrow down which branch gave the money and hopefully if ID was required to receive the money, but I think that's only with transactions over $1000.

Just another thought, the name's they gave you, Barnet Jones & David Walmer could be something they pulled out of the air or name's of other victim's who had been scammed in the past?

A definite possibility which means they could use my name, address and telephone number for any purpose they want...

 

[Aya]

I am sorry to hear this, Turgon. I would be really frustrated if something happens to me this way.
If something is too good to be true, it is probably not true... Even if we know it, we can fall into these kind of traps easily.

As for the Police stating that there was a slim chance for an investigation, it doesn't stop you from making copies of the emails and adding a short summary, etc., submitting it to the Police in person and requesting an investigator place it "on File" if unable to investigate at the present time. If they get enough public complaints, chances are - they'll start pulling files.

As for messing with them (scambaiting), You may want to think about that for a moment.

At present, you're the victim. Depending how you play your hand in this convoluted mess, you might find yourself - being set up as an accessory - to take the fall for one of their other scams? Remember, they have your name and address, phone number. Which, under the circumstances, might led to a possible
"break-in & home evasion!" It's bad enough finding out your a victim, don't add insult to injury, by messing with them and digging yourself in deeper.

I don't feel a particular sting from it other then the initial sickness from realization but have been trying to understand what the situation now calls for. Maybe simply just putting out there to the police that my name, address and information have been taken and could be used and giving these names out to the police is what's being asked of me, even though Danish police investigation into this will be negligible.

I think angelburst29 has a good point. You have already gave the police your information, but it is better not to mess around with these people anymore. You have already found out their truth face - they are decieving and maupilative - so you should stop wasting your time and energy on them. You spent money for an expensive lesson and learned something important. I think it is time to move on. :)

 

[Renaissance]

I don't feel a particular sting from it other then the initial sickness from realization (...)

Just a few hours ago you we're asking about taking revenge on these guys, so it might be helpful to reconsider the emotional impact this has had. I was just thinking how when we're wounded by a pathological that it's like they use a poisoned weapon. We most likely see the wound but the toxin that comes with it can go unnoticed and manifest in toxic thinking or behavior. I bet it would be helpful to do some EE to get through some of this. It does sound like your emotions may be taking you for a bit of a ride, which is understandable having just been through a pathological encounter. I think if you can get some distance from the situation you might be able to look back on the situation with some objectivity to get something from it - like taking on the role of the curious naturalist that Lobaczewski wrote about in Political Ponerology:

As a youth, I read a book about a naturalist wandering through the Amazon-basin wilderness. At some moment a small animal fell from a tree onto the nape of his neck, clawing his skin painfully and sucking his blood. The biologist cautiously removed it - without anger, since that was its form of feeding - and proceeded to study it carefully. This story stubbornly stuck in my mind during those very difficult times when a vampire fell onto our necks, sucking the blood of an unhappy nation.

The attitude of a naturalist - who attempts to track the nature of macro-social phenomena in spite of all adversity - insured a certain intellectual distance and better psychological hygiene, also slightly increasing the feeling of safety and furnishing a premonition that this very method may help find a certain creative solution. This required controlling the natural, moralizing reflexes of revulsion and other painful emotions this phenomenon provokes in any normal person when it deprives him of his joy of life and personal safety, ruining his own future and that of his nation. Scientific curiosity becomes a loyal ally during such times.

I saw how my emotions took over at a certain point where trust that wasn't earned was initiated and I felt for this person as someone whom I could rent from and that's where all critical thinking went out the window.

I'm glad you mention this since trust can be a helpful human drive when it is earned.

 

[paralleloscope]

I phoned Linco and they were aware of 'Barnet', who of course didn't work there, but whom they have had several reports about and they have reported him to the police's IT crime division. I tried contacting them to get a status but was on indefinite hold, they are supposedly overworked and way behind on matters of greater gravity such as children's pornography and big time financial hacking crimes. I'll call them again Monday but I don't think there is much hope in justice being served by them.

Representative.com is apparently being used by a lot of scammers, didn't see Barnet's name on the quickly googled list, but perhaps that would be a way to give something back to the situation, marking his name up on the scam lists.

 

[anart]

You may not want to put energy into "payback" since that's a waste and you'll really just be flailing at a shadow, but you could warn others. I've seen people put up craiglist ads warning against just this thing after they've been burned. You have to stay on top of the ad so people see it consistently, but the one I saw was in the 'house for rent section' with a good price to get attention - then a warning about the scam and the name and email address involved. At the time I saw it I thought it was a really positive thing for that person to do - to warn other prey on the 'hunting ground'.

By the way, you live in Canada - why in the world are you trying to rent a place in Denmark?

 

[paralleloscope]

By the way, you live in Canada - why in the world are you trying to rent a place in Denmark?

I don't think Turgon is looking to move out of his Canada, merely seeking residence through local craigslist (which doesn't cover Denmark) as far as I can tell, where these particular scammers borrow a Danish company name for a stamp of officialdom.

 

[anart]

By the way, you live in Canada - why in the world are you trying to rent a place in Denmark?

I don't think Turgon is looking to move out of his Canada, merely seeking residence through local craigslist (which doesn't cover Denmark) as far as I can tell, where these particular scammers borrow a Danish company name for a stamp of officialdom.

Ahhh, okay - I was obviously confused on that.

 

[mcb]

You may not want to put energy into "payback" since that's a waste and you'll really just be flailing at a shadow, but you could warn others...

Perhaps $780 is a reasonable price for the lesson -- they don't come for free, at least not for the person experiencing it first hand. Learning from this one could save even more in the future. I agree about warning others, though.

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

I'm sorry to read this happened to you, Turgon. 'Opening up to us' (well, lying through their teeth more like) is the way these pathologicals gain our trust.
And since your emotions were running the show, you did not see it coming.

Maybe next time you get really excited about something, take a step back and see what's really underneath? You know, be a bit paranoid. :)
If you can't see things properly, discuss it with your friend maybe?

FWIW, I totally agree with Anart and Megan about letting people know about this. Where the ad was placed is a good place to start but also on consumers' forums, etc.
Who knows how many others will fall for this?
Anything making the life of such scammers harder is a step in the right direction imo.